1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate to a fuel cell system and in particular, to a fuel cell system having a fuel pressurizing system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Fuel cell systems include a main body where electricity is generated, and a cartridge to supply fuel to the main body. Hence, fuel supplies to the fuel cell systems can by renewed by replacing a used cartridge with a fresh cartridge.
In order to effectively apply fuel cell systems to mobile systems, such as mobile phones, a fuel cell system should be small and light, a cartridge should have a high fuel storing volume to size ratio, a stable fuel supply should be ensured, the leakage of fuel should be prevented regardless of whether the cartridge is used, and a fuel leakage from the cartridge should be prevented when the user operates the fuel cell system. Above all, the cost of a disposable cartridge should be low, and the fuel cell system should be reliable in operation.
The fuel supplying systems of the conventional fuel cell systems are classified into pressurizing systems and non-pressurizing systems.
Conventional pressurizing fuel cell systems include a pressurizing system disposed in a cartridge and a pressurizing system in a fuel storage pack. Accordingly, the fuel storing volume ratio of the cartridge is reduced, the risk of fuel leakage from the cartridge is increased, and the cost of the cartridge is increased.
Conventional non-pressurizing fuel cell systems do not include a pressurizing system in a cartridge, but include a separate fuel supply mechanism, e.g., a fuel pump, disposed in a main body adapted to supply the fuel to the main body. The disadvantage of this conventional system is that the extra fuel supply mechanism is expensive, the overall volume and cost thereof is increased, and the risk of a failure in the fuel supply mechanism is increased.
As a result, conventional fuel cell systems do not satisfy the above-described conditions for acting as power sources of mobile systems.